Goa needs a new leader, CM Manohar Parrikar is unwell: Union minister

Panaji, Nov 10: Union Minister Shripad Naik Friday said a change in leadership in Goa is a "requirement" "today or tomorrow" considering the health of Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar.

Parrikar has been undergoing treatment for a pancreatic ailment for several months now and arrived in the state on October 14 post hospitalisation at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi.

"We will have to have a change in leadership either today or tomorrow. It is a requirement. You all know that the chief ministers health is not well but still he is working under such circumstances," the Union AYUSH minister said on the sidelines of a press conference here to announce International Yoga Day.

While there has been periodic talk about a change in leadership in the state, the BJP has consistently ruled it out.

Naik is one of the first Goa BJP leaders to demand a change of leadership in Goa, even as the state BJP has come under immense flak over the CM's prolonged absence due to illness.

Parrikar is in an advanced stage of pancreatic cancer and is resting at his Dona Paula residence in Goa. He hasn't attended his office at Porvorim since June and had been shuttling between New York, New Delhi and Goa for treatment.